Flipswap Offers Coffee for Used iPods, Cell Phones

Flipswap has come up with a compelling sweetener to convince people to recycle old cell phones and iPods — free coffee. The company, which already gives consumers cash for old devices, has partnered up with Tully's Coffee Corporation to offer gift certificates for java too.

The only catch: you have to take the time to package and ship your aging electronics to Flipswap. For its part, Flipswap tries to make the process as easy as possible. Free mailing labels can be printed from the company's website, and gift certificates arrive within 3-4 weeks.

Flipswap's gift certificates sometimes end up being quite substantial. While an old Motorola v300 is worth only $11.32, a Motorola Razr can fetch $53.47 in coffee. Newer phones can be cashed in for up to $400 — that's a lot of lattes.

Of course, recyclers could forgo the Tully's gift certificate and get cash from Flipswap instead, but can't we all use a little extra money in the coffee fund? (Provided you live near a store, in Arizona, California, Idaho, Oregon, or Washington State).